20 Years After Their Birth Captivated The World, The Aylmer Twins Are All Grown Up

In 1996, Donna and Vince Aylmer had the surprise of the lives when they found out that they weren't just expecting their fourth child, they were going to be welcoming a fifth one too.

On January 16, 1997, the couple welcomed twin girls, Lucy and Maria, into the family. Although, they knew early on that the twins were fraternal, they did not expect them to look so significantly different from one another.

Maria was born black with tight curls and brown eyes like her half-Jamaican mother, while Lucy's fair skin and light eyes matched her dad's, who is Caucasian.

Inside Edition

As expected, Donna and Vince were in shock when they were handed their daughters.

"It was such a shock for her because obviously things like skin color don’t show up on scans before birth,” Lucy explained in a recent interview. "So she had no idea that we were so different. When the midwife handed us both to her, she was just speechless."

The twins have other siblings, including two older brothers, and an older sister, but all of them bear light-brown complexions that reflect their mixed race genes.

"Our brothers and sisters have skin which is in between Maria and I," said Lucy to Daily Mail, "We are at opposite ends of the spectrum and they are all somewhere in between. But my grandmother has a very fair English rose complexion, just like mine."

Over the years, Donna and Vince got divorced, but they continued to co-parent the twins and their siblings. Donna would often dress the girls in matching outfits, which confused people because although they were sisters, they looked nothing alike.

"No one ever believes we are twins because I am white and Maria is black,” Lucy explained to the New York Post. "Even when we dress alike, we still don’t even look like sisters, let alone twins."

As Lucy and Maria got older, they asked their mom to stop dressing them in matching outfits. Around the age of seven is when the girls knew that although they're twin sisters, they were also unique individuals, and they wanted to let that show.

"We don’t look alike. So why should we have to wear the exact same thing?" said Lucy.

Kiwi Report

Unfortunately, because of their looks, the twins endured some not-so-great moments while growing up. Lucy was often teased and called names because she did not look like the rest of her family. Her red hair and fair skin set her apart from her siblings, and people thought she was adopted.

Maria also admitted that she "hated" her curly locks, and "used to cry about it."

The New York Post

Now, 20 years since their birth captivated the world, Lucy and Maria are still very much opposites, in every sense of the word. Their personalities and taste in style are almost as different as their looks.